Fire Mage

Charles took the red-colored contract from Eddie's hand and started reading it.

After reading the contract for a whole minute, he went silent for a while. Like he had expected, the main owner of A-035 would be himself and would have the power to completely control the Series-A Artifact. That would be only possible when he successfully tricks the Artifact to sign the contract.

"This is too good. It is more like a servitude contract for the Holem's Crown. Do you think that A-035 would be willing to accept this contract?" He asked while sharpening his gaze towards the outside.

"You are right. But when you show this contract to A-035, it won't see the real content. You can write what rubbish you want to write and trick that artifact into signing it. But you have to act carefully and make it believe that the contents are not too good. If you made a mistake when showing the contract, the Holem's Crown will be on guard and might find out about our real plan."

Charles nodded his head solemnly and then cast [Inspect] skill to check if the contract was real or fake.

[Name: Contract of Imagination

Rank: ????

Effects: It's an absolute contract and has power equal to the Abyssal Contract. It has the power of 'Imagination' to deceive the opposite party and make them believe whatever you write.]

'This is a real and a very powerful contract...' He nodded as he stored it in his void pouch and then asked another question to clarify his doubt.

"Why aren't you doing it on your own? Is it related to your true soul?"

Eddie smiled as he nodded his head and spoke.

"Yes. I also don't want others to know that my original body and three avatars have already died. My mere incarnation has only the strength of a [Dream Creator], and I won't be able to stay in the Edhen World for too long. But once I convert my fake soul into a true one, I will be able to rank up once again and become a true [Dream Lord]. If I managed to create a physical body in the real world, I might become an [Imaginary Lord] and will walk on the Edhen World like a normal Mystic one day."

Charles's heart stirred as he heard those new terms and began to organize his thoughts.

'Those titles must be the [Dreamer] class rank names. [Dreamer] is a Rank-1 class. What about the 2nd Rank class name? Rank-3?' He furrowed his brows for a moment and soon asked.

"Which rank is [Dream Creator] Class, Ancestor?"

A look of puzzlement appeared on Eddie's face as he stared at him for a moment and soon spoke with a sigh.

"It seems you are clueless about the Gem Class ranks. [Dream Creator] is a rank 5 class. Now that I think about it, you are still an [Apprentice Fire Mage], aren't you?" After sizing him up and down for a second, Eddie asked.

"Yes, Ancestor." Charles didn't find anything abnormal and replied honestly.

"Good. Fire Mage is a good class." Eddie nodded thoughtfully and soon gave a suggestion.

"When you have enough material do the ritual for Elemental Heart Creation, come here. I will give you a particular fire elemental plane's co-ordination. That's all I can do to help my descendant."

"Thank you, Ancestor." Charles felt a strange warm emotion appeared in his heart as he heard Eddie's suggestion and thanked him subconsciously.

After that, he thought for a moment and soon asked questions while pointing his forefinger towards the yard.

"What are these weird creatures? Are these the original residence of Nightmare World?"

A proud look bloomed on Eddie's face as he heard those words.

"They are my new creations. When someone dreams, they will subconsciously create some living illusions through the power of 'Imagination' and 'Dreams.' Although they would be just temporary illusions, I made some alterations in those illusion creatures and let them evolve like me. That black snake is also created by this method when you came to this Dreamworld last time."

"Oh? But why is there no human in the crowd?" Charles looked at those different types of creatures and posed another question.

"Humans, huh. They are not trustworthy." Eddie instantly shook his head and replied.

"Are there any native species in this world?" Charles wandered his gaze towards the outer Dreamworld and soon asked while staring at the strange typhoon in interest.

"Yes, there are many types of Nightmare Creatures, Dream Wanderers, and Trouble Makers roaming in this world. They were born from strong emotions of someone's dream and then evolved into powerful creatures naturally. Oh, they also have true souls. Due to them created by the power of 'Imagination,' they aren't restricted by the Dreamworld and even have some terrifying abilities. If you met any of these weird native creatures, don't try to confront it." Eddie turned his face serious and gave him a warning.

Charles widened his eyes and nodded his head gravely. After that, he turned his gaze towards his Ember Pistol and asked casually.

"Can you help me upgrade this Pistol, Ancestor? The cool-down time is too long."

Eddie narrowed his eyes as he walked near the table, picked up the Ember Pistol, and then started inspecting it.

"Hmm, they used Runal characters to create a good mechanical weapon. Let's see if I can infuse my 'Imagination' power and make some changes." After saying those words, Eddie created different characters in the air using a needle-like quill and started sending them into his Ember Pistol. Like butterflies, those weird characters surrounded the Ember Pistol for some time and soon absorbed into the grip area. Once those characters were absorbed into the Pistol's grip, Eddie nodded his head with a pleasant smile on his face and said.

"You are a Fire Mage, so I added a particular Fire plane's co-ordination as an imprint in weapon and made a few changes. So, from now on, the Pistol will absorb the 'Fire elemental energy' from the Fire Plane through the imprint and increase the destructive power up to three folds of your attack magic spell. That's only for now. If you increase your rank, it will also grow alongside you. I also put your soul mark on it. So it will be bounded to you from now on, and no one can steal it from you. As for changing the cool-down time, it's almost impossible for me. If I try to alter those Runal characters, this weapon might get destroyed instead."

Upon hearing Eddie's last sentence, Charles didn't get depressed. Instead, he smiled widely and agreed.

'It's a perfect trump card for me. Although the destructive power from the condensed mana bullet is higher than the current bullet, it won't be useful in the future if I didn't alter it now.' He curled his lips upward and took the Ember Pistol from Eddie.

After that, he asked few more doubts about Dreamworld and then asked another important question.

"Ancestor, can you tell me more about the so-called 'Irregulars'? Why do you call me and the mysterious 'Sun God' as 'Irregulars'?"

Rubbing his template, Eddie thought for a moment and said solemnly,

"Unlike normal Mystics, you can't measure the 'Irregulars' strength by normal means. They will grow at an abnormal speed, their actions will always be unpredictable, and they also can control their own destinies. Even I don't know much about these Irregulars."

'Control their own destinies...' Charles creased his brows in surprise and soon nodded in understanding.

Both then discussed for another hour, and soon Charles found out more interesting information about the Dreamworld.

The first one was about the 'Time' anomaly in this Dream World. Due to this world's strangeness, 'Time' would flow sometimes faster while other times slower. No one, not even a mighty [Dream Lord], had the power to influence it. He also mentioned that there would be a time when he would have the possibility of encountering past, present, and future worlds! Although it was a rare occurrence, Eddie said that it did happen sometimes. As for why it was happening, he said that it had something to do with a mysterious Time God.

The second one was a strange thing called 'World Eater.' Eddie mentioned that the 'World Eater' was a strange creature in space and had the power to swallow everything in its path. He mentioned that it looked like a large blackish round thing, and it even absorbed his most devastating attack into its belly. Eddie said that this strange 'World Eater' was drifting in the space and appeared to be moving in Edhen World's direction.

Charles instantly thought of the 'Blackhole' and became more curious about the origin of this 'World Eater.'

The last one he talked about was the 'Divinities' and Divine Path. Unlike the Class-gem Path, Divine Path was forbidden and a dangerous one. To walk on this divine path, one needs to collect divinities from many parts of the universe. Divinities were very rare to find and were dangerous things to touch. Eddie told him that it was a separate path from the Class gem path and had severe restrictions. He also warned Charles not to absorb any divinity even if he stumbled upon one and told him always to be wary of the Divines.

Eddie then put a 'Star Mark' on Charles's right hand and said in a solemn tone after exchanging few words.

"This is the Mark of Imagination. Once you activate this 'Mark' when disguising, you will have an easy time disguising yourself as another person and could trick others easily. Whoever sees you will be affected by this 'Mark of Imagination' and would never suspect of you as a disguised person. But be careful of its cool-down, though. You can use this Mark only once a day. Once this Mark is activated, you will be in that state for 2 hours, and then the 'Mark' will be deactivated on its own. So, use it properly."

'Mark of Imagination…' Charles suddenly stopped thinking and stared at Eddie with wide eyes.

"Did you influence my thoughts with your power of 'Imagination'?"

'After I came to this place, I acted very differently. I felt as if the person in front of me was my closest person and could always trust him with my life on the line… Dangerous! Is he controlling my emotions?'

Noticing the change in his facial expression, Eddie waved his hand and said with a smile.

"If I didn't use the power of 'Imagination' to make you believe my words, you wouldn't have listened to my words and might be scheming in your mind by now. I'm not a smart one, so I have no other choice." He paused for a moment as he saw the sudden vigilance in Charles's face and sighed heavily.

"I will be honest with you now, Charles. The reason I brought you here is not to kill you or control you. I brought you here to achieve something, and once we achieve that, we will be walking in different paths."

Charles grew warier as he heard Eddie's words and soon realized that he was nothing in front of this powerful old man.

'Yes, he is indeed somewhat polite when comparing to other Mystics. At least, he hasn't shown any ill intention against me other than manipulating my emotions to trust his words.'

After thinking for a moment, Charles thanked Eddie Nightwind for his earlier help and soon asked him about the 'Time' difference between this dream and the outside world. If it was some other mystics, they would have kept their mouth silent and won't even dare to interact with a dangerous person. But Charles knew that every piece of information was precious, so he didn't hold back and asked him.

To his surprise, Eddie told him that when someone enters the DreamWorld using the 'Nightmare Stone,' they will be able to stay here for a week without any restriction.

But during the time, the 'Time' difference will vary from minutes, days, or even weeks in Edhen World. Eddie then told Charles that if he wants to return to Edhen World, he must return to the place where he first woke up in the Dreamworld. Otherwise, his consciousness would be destroyed by the Dreamworld's Will, and his real soul would also receive a heavy injury in return. Eddie also told him that If his soul was in a weaker state, the possibility of him dying in the real world was very high.

Once the discussion was over, Eddie informed him that the current 'Time' variation between Dream World and Edhen World was not abnormal, so he advised Charles to return to Riverdale City in four days and then disappeared from the study room. Charles stayed alone in the study for some time and started to return to his normal self. As his original emotions began to return, Charles's face went gloomy and cold.

'He is indeed influenced my emotions to believe his words completely... Thankfully, he isn't a psychopath. Otherwise, I would be dead or enslaved by now. Hmm, from his earlier words, I can guess that he is indeed in dire need of my help. Well, as long as he didn't double-cross me, I won't make any rash moves against him. His abilities to create things out of nothing through 'Imagination' power are indeed terrifying. But there must be some restrictions to use those abilities in Edhen World. If he is powerful in creating things out of 'Imagination,' he would have stormed into the Edhen World and captured that A-035 on his own.' He turned his face solemn and heaved a heavy sigh.

Shaking his head, Charles then walked out of the study room, went downstairs through the split staircase, and sat on a smooth sofa. After that, he thought of spending the time inside and improved his spell models using the Runal language knowledge. He felt that this was also an opportunity to improve his spells and study the spell models.

He stayed mostly in the reception hall while eating the dry bread from time to time and improved his offensive spell model. Due to his hard work and persistence, he finally managed to master the [Incinerate] spell model on the third day. Once he completely mastered the offensive spell, he didn't shift his attention to other spell models. Instead, he took out the magic book called Starfall Codex and started flipping the pages.

Unlike the spell models, the Starfall Codex was written in clear Runal words and appeared more like poetry verses. He saw many magic spells' incantation verses and also noticed the warnings. Each spell verse had some cool-down time and restrictions. If you take the Rank-1 [Confusion] spell as an example, it had a cool-down of two hours, and one needs to have the Wisdom power of 12.

That precise number gave Charles a huge surprise. From Emilia's words, he learned that the normal mystics had no idea about measuring one's Wisdom power. But the book owner seemed to have already aware of the secrets behind Wisdom Power. He looked at those spells one by one and soon found out that he could only use five spells from the Starfall Codex book with the Wisdom of 15. Among those five spells, one was a Titan's offensive bloodline spell, two Rank-1 supportive spells, and two Rank-1 agility-types spells.

The time passed slowly, and soon Charles's time to walk out of the dream also came.